The Offer (Baron 2)

She wouldn’t worry about it. She eased down beside him. She lightly stroked her fingers over his face—the length of his nose, his jaw, the outline of his mouth. How she loved his mouth. She leaned over and kissed him.

He stopped snoring. His eyes opened and he stared up at her. “Martine?”

“No, Phillip. It’s your wife. It’s Sabrina.”

“No, that’s not possible. Sabrina is terrified of men. She wouldn’t be here, kissing me.” His eyes fell to her breasts, pressed against him. “She wouldn’t be here naked unless she was too sick to care, like before. I remember that I tried not to look at her breasts, but they were so white and soft. It was difficult, but most of the time I didn’t look.”

His voice was slurred and soft. She lightly shook his shoulder. “Please look at me now. I’m naked so I can seduce you.” She kissed him again.

“No, it’s you, Martine. You’re playing a game with me. Very well, let’s play.”

His hands came down on her bare back. “You’ve lost flesh, Martine, but by God you’re soft, I love the feel of you. Kiss me some more.”

Phillip realized it was his wife the very instant he eased into her. From one moment to the next, he became instantly and completely full-witted, the brandy gone from his brain. She was very small and he had to push hard. Then he butted against her maidenhead. He raised his head and saw that her eyes were tightly closed. He tried, but he couldn’t pull out of her, he just couldn’t.

“Sabrina?”

She opened her eyes. “Phillip, I’m sorry, but it hurts. It hurts a whole lot.”

“I know, I know. Hold still and I’ll try to hold still as well. Maybe the pain will lessen, I don’t know. I’ve never taken a virgin before. Do you know how you feel to me? Do you have any idea at all what it’s like to be inside you?”

She wanted to laugh but he was pressing harder against her now and the burning increased. “I’m inside me all the time.”

“I want to be also,” he said, kissed her hard, then shoved through her maidenhead.

She screamed, unable to keep her mouth shut.

So did he, after but a few moments of pounding into her, his head thrown back, his back arched, so wild were the roaring feelings deep inside him and he was deep inside her, so surely she must feel all that he was feeling too.

She was crying, tears seeping from beneath her closed eyelids.

He began kissing her again when he could move, when he could function, barely.

“You weren’t afraid of me?”

“No. Well, just a bit, but only when you were looking at me. It wasn’t the same way you looked at me when I was ill.”

“I hope not. You’re beautiful, Sabrina. I’m sorry I hurt you. It won’t hurt next time. Thank you for coming to me.”

“You’re welcome, Phillip.”

He rolled off her, brought her against his side, pressed her cheek down against his chest and in three minutes, he was lightly snoring.

Sabrina lay there, her palm on his chest, over his heart, and she said, “I love you, Phillip. I realized I loved you when I was lying in bed at Moreland and woke up to find you there with me, just watching me in that soft candlelight. I loved you then.”

“If you loved me then why didn’t you accept my proposal?”

She went stiff as a board, then tried to rear up, but his arm held her against him. “Don’t fight me. Why didn’t you accept my proposal then? All this would have been avoided, well, probably not, but Teresa would have had to take both of us on, not just you.”

“You’re asleep. I heard you snoring.”

“I’m a light sleeper. The snoring is the way I relax myself.”

“You’re lying.” She sighed. He said nothing, not that she expected him to. Then, suddenly, he turned to face her. He began kissing her, his hands on every patch of her, kneading her flesh, caressing her, saying sex words into her mouth, words she didn’t understand. When he raised her in his hands and brought her to his mouth, she pulled on his hair and said, “Phillip, isn’t this a very strange thing for you to do to me? It’s very embarrassing.”

“Shut up. Try to enjoy this, Sabrina. I’d like for you to have pleasure this time.”

But she was locked into such embarrassment all she could do was bite her mouth and keep her eyes tightly closed. Finally, she heard him sigh. He opened her legs and slowly, gently, came into her. She was sore, but it didn’t hurt too badly. He was moving inside her now and she knew that this was why she’d been ostracized. Everyone had believed that this is what they’d done at Charles’s hunting box. Why would any woman believe that? She lay there, feeling him deep inside her body. She loved him but this was only something she’d do if he wanted it. She sighed. It seemed to be very important to him.